Office Gossip
by diddly day
Summary: The story of Pam and Jim, with a few twists here and there


_**Office Gossip**_

_**by diddly day**_

_**Disclaimer: This show ain't mine. And it gonna stay that way.**_

_**I had a sudden urge to write a fic about Pam and Jim (Jam, anyone?) I redid it. I wanted it just to be fun. But I was really unhappy with the way it turned out. I realize that in order to be proud of what I write, I need to put a lot of work in order for it to have quality.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**Chapter One: Three Years Before**_

_MARRY ME, PAM!_

The stale piece of popcorn fell out of her mouth as she stared at the reader board. The tiny morsel seemed to drop to the floor in slow motion and Pam gazed astonished at that wee sentence displayed for the entire audience to see.It flashed twice, almost as if in urgency and annoyance. For a moment, a thought flew into her mind that Roy might be controlling the board with his thoughts. . .

She had just enough time to catch a Roy's slight grin as a the crowd around her erupted in a explosive choirs of shrieks. Pam almost didn't notice that Roy was screaming with them.

"That was a traveling! Traveling you PIECE OF SHIT!"

_This isn't real. I'll wake up anytime soon._

For a split second she wondered if the proposal was for a different Pam. But then she caught the light letters of the reader-board change as they sparkled smoothly, finishing the all ready rather short message.

– _LOVE ROY._

Roy, however, was not preoccupied with his little love note that he had just shot out of the sky for her. Instead, he was red faced and screaming at the referee. The ref, in return, was peering back at Roy as if he now knew what Rosemary's baby looked like as a middle-aged man..

"I'm going to lose eighty bucks because of you!"

And he still wasn't paying any attention to her or his proposition.

_I guess that's what happens when my boyfriend proposes during the game._

"If you don't shut up right now, I'm going to go over there, and shove that basketball so far down your throat you're going to have to pull it out of your bellybutton!" The referee blew his whistle for emphasis and made a rather crude sign with his arm that could have been either directed at the players on the court, or at Roy.

The alarm for a timeout burst the proposal writing away from the board, and Roy was setting back down into his seat, grumbling as he swiped the popcorn in Pam's trembling hand.

"Marry you?" she gasped with uncertainty. Roy glance back at her. Another smile flickered over his features.

"Yeah, how about it?"

Pam had always wondered what this moment would be like. When she was a young girl, she had dreamt of candles and roses while her prince knelt in front of her with a gold engagement ring. Later, those dreams turned more subtle, and transformed into vague scenarios of her with a faceless man. And as time went on, the place, the ring, and the man just . . . disappeared.

_And "poof!" I'm an old maid. Setting alone with my cats. _

The difference between a sexy cat woman, and a messy cat lady, were a man and, of course, a few coins short of Nana's change purse.

_Like Angela._

Those Eeyore-like moments happened a lot more than they once had. Before, a tiny sliver of hope shined its ray in her dull, humdrum life at the most unexpected times. Even in a relationship, she often found that it was hard to stay positive about her future fairy tale. It was especially hard when Roy went out drinking with his buddy's every night instead of spending time with her once and a while.

But that was all before tonight. Now, she had hope.

Now was her chance.

"I – "

The referee's whistle made Roy's eyes flicker back to the court. No wonder he wanted her so badly to come with him to the game. She, herself, wasn't a big fan of sports. And before, he had never asked her to go with him. Until tonight. . .when he popped the big question.

Just the fact that he had planned this for her made Pam smile slightly.

"Yes."

Roy's eyes were now back on her. He didn't look surprised. Quite the contrary. He seemed. . .expectant.

"You will?"

She nodded and forced a smile. Somehow, the action didn't seem right.. Pressing her lips together, she leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. The popcorn tilted in her hand, and a few fell out of the bag.

"All right!" Roy said. "Awesome."

The two settled back to watch the rest of the game. They were up four points, all this guy had to do was pass the ball to the right guy, and he could score, winning the game.

And out of nowhere, a rich, orange ball came flying at Pam's head.

_**I I I**_

"What happened to you?"

She could tell that Jim was fighting back suppressed laughter as he stared into her bright, red, scratchy eyes. He sat at his desk, twirling a pencil between his fingers as he stared at her intently. Pam suddenly felt her face flush with embarrassment.

"What?" She touched her head to make sure her pump wasn't sticking out of her hair like they did in the Road Runner cartoons. Jim let out a light chuckle.

"You look like you haven't slept in a week. A look I'm not used to seeing that from Pam," he continued uponnoticing her perplexed expression. "Have you, you know, had a little of this?"

He made a telephone sign with his fist, but tipped his thumb toward his lips that held a deep smirk.

"No, I haven't been drinking," she muttered, letting herself laugh a little at his boyishness.

"Then why do you look as if you spent the entire night banging your forehead against the wall?" He stopped. "Oh my hell, you haven't been banging your head against the wall, have you? Look, I know Dwight's a pain in the ass, but you don't need to kill yourself. Leave me to deal with him." He cracked his knuckles which won him another laugh from her.

"Well, I did bang my head. . .Well, more like something banged into my head."

Jim raised his eyebrows.

"Do explain," he urged, clearly intrigued.

"Where shall I begin?" Pam said as she sat herself down on the edge of his desk. She barely noticed him tilt his chair away from her. "Roy took me to a basketball game last night, and thirty seconds before the clock runs out, the guy with the ball gets so nervous that he chucks it hard at his teammate and misses. . ."

The room was silent. Jim eyed her for a few moments before his eyes lit up and. .

"Are you telling me that the moron hit you in the head with a _basketball?_"

She grinned and nodded, waiting for him to erupt with peals of laughter. Perhaps for him to slap his knee and call Michael over so she could tell the story again. However, the reaction she got from Jim was not what she had expected.

"Are you okay?"

It took her a second to realize that there was something different in his tone. Something she wasn't used to hearing. He sounded. . ..worried?

"Huh?" At her intelligent reply, Jim crossed his arms and lowered his voice.

"That guy threw a ball at your head, Pam. Are you okay?"

Pam nodded, but not enthusiastically like she wanted. Her head was still throbbing from the basketball that had been chucked eighty-miles-per-hour at her face. Luckily, all the injuries she had were a little bump on the head. . .and a slight concussion.

"Wow," he breathed. "I'm surprised that you didn't take that opportunity to skive off a day of work."

"Well, I had other things on my mind. Roy's proposal kind of stunned me, and numbed a lot of the pain." She shot a slick glance in his direction, priding herself on her clever way of revealing her engagement.

Silence.

It was slight, but Pam was almost sure that she saw the color drain from Jim's face. She heard a small "clunk" and looked down to see that he had dropped his pencil. Any moment he was sure to jump up and smile. Hug her and tell her that he couldn't be happier for her.

No.

All he did was search her face with his eyes. Pam shifted on his desk awkwardly. It wasn't like him to be so — paralyzed.

"I'm engaged!" she sighed, trying her best to sound genuinely happy.

Because she was happy. She really was.

Jim shook his head and moved his mouth a few times before any sound came out.

"Engaged?"

"Yeah," she continued. "Roy asked me last night. . .at the game."

"How long have you two been dating?" Jim asked, who still looked as if he had been told by Michael to give Dwight an enema. Pam shrugged.

"A while."

_Okay, it's not that big of a surprise, is it? I'm not that ugly._

She gazed at Jim who stared back. A small glint passed over his face too quickly for Pam to register exactly what he was feeling. The fleeting sensation was brief, but it made her strangely sad. Then, as if lighting had hit him, he jumped and seemed to snap out of his reverie.

"Oh! I – Congratulations!" He stood up at his desk and held his arms outstretched. Hesitating, she focused her sight on his tie and stepped closer into his hug. Within seconds she felt his warm arms circle around her waste. The two didn't say anything for a moment.

"Wow," he muttered tenderly into her ear. . ."Pam, this is a big step!"

"I know."

For some odd reason, all words had escaped her. It was as if someone had shut that vocal part of her brain down, and all she could merely do was stand there and stare over his shoulder at the dark spot on the wall.

It was then, that Pam realized that it wasn't that she couldn't talk. . .It was that she didn't want to talk. Not when she was standing here. . .so safe.

That's when she saw Angela's beady eyes staring irefully at her.

Letting go, Jim stepped away and grinned at her. Dropping his arms to his sides, he smoothed out his tie and eyed her with a suspicious look.

"I would've thought you'd have been more excited," he exclaimed.

"Oh! No, I am excited. . .very excited!" Pam inwardly marveled at how her mouth now seemed to be moving too quickly, as though her brain couldn't keep up, almost as if to explain herself to him. To justify her engagement.

"That's good. You have a lot to be excited about." Jim's voice was heartier than usual, and he was now pulling his coat over his shoulders briskly. Pam couldn't help but noticed that he's eyes weren't meeting hers.

"Where are you going?"

He stopped before reaching the door. Pausing, he turned back and grinned more widely than usual, his eyes deliberately locked with hers.

"To buy you a hot dog for this happy occasion. C'mon, you deserve it."

Looking back to make sure Dwight or Michael weren't anywhere in sight, she turned back to Jim.

_Are you really looking for Dwight or Michael? Sure it's not Roy you're worried about catching you with. . ._

Pam shivered and immediately paced to her desk to grab her coat.

"Sure, why not?"

As she headed back to her desk to grab her purse, she wondered what kind of ring Roy would get her, and when they should set a date. It should be soon. After all, they had known each other for a while now.

It wasn't like she'd be engaged forever.

_**To Be Continued. . .**_

_**I have no idea where I'm going with this. But it should be fun. Hey, I was bored.**_


End file.
